It Doesn't Work Well For Muscle Soreness

Acetaminophen is a non-opioid analgesic, which is a family of medications used to relieve mild to severe pain. These include aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen. Ewan McNicol, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Tufts University, claims that non-opioid analgesics inhibit the COX enzyme, also known as cyclooxygenase. When your cells are damaged, COX aids in the body's production of fatty substances called prostaglandins that cause pain and inflammation. Therefore, inhibiting this enzyme aids in preventing the discomfort that prostaglandins cause.

The peripheral nervous system, or the nerves outside of your brain and spinal cord, is where the majority of non-opioid analgesics act as analgesics. However, researchers think that acetaminophen predominantly affects the central nervous system by targeting COX-3, a slightly different type of the COX enzyme.